Synthesis and Characterization of Hydroxyapatite from Fish Scale and Fin Wastes of Freshwater Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) gathered from McIver Market, Warri, Delta State, Nigeria

Abstract

Materials based on Hydroxyapatite (HAp) have attracted interest from the engineering, biotechnology, and biomedical industries because of their multifaceted uses. Consequently, the objective of this paper was to synthesize and characterize hydroxyapatite from fish scale (FS) and fin (FF) wastes of Freshwater Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) gathered from McIver Market, Warri, Delta State, Nigeria using appropriate standard methods after calcination. The FTIR results of both samples established the presence of hydroxyl peaks between 3600–3200 cm⁻¹, strong phosphate peaks and visible carbonate peaks at 1412 – 1457 cm^-1. The XRF results of both samples were seen to predominantly contain calcium and phosphorus. The oxide composition contained mainly calcium oxide, phosphorus pentoxide and silicon oxide. The SEM micrograph showed the HAP from FS and FF to have irregular block-like shapes and closely packed layers, respectively. The XRD result showed its main (211) peak at 32.02°, which confirmed a high degree of crystallinity and further revealed 88.26% and 91.20% phase purity for fish scale and fin, respectively. The calcinated fish waste produced high-quality HAp material and can be used as a sustainable HAp source.